Report of the consultation meet:

“A regional Development Plan based on partnership and collaboration will create a win-win situation for Pondicherry, Auroville and the surrounding areas of Tamil Nadu” said Dr. Harjit Singh Anand IAS, Secretary Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA). He was the chief guest for the consultation meet “Water Management Through Integrated Planning And Regional Collaboration” held at the Town Hall, Auroville TN on 15th May 2008, jointly organized by Town and Country Planning, Government of Pondicherry, L’avenir d’ Auroville, Pondy CAN and INTACH.

Water is a key component in determining the quality of our lives. Contrary to the past, our recent developed technological society has become indifferent to this miracle of life. Our natural heritage i.e. lakes, rivers, seas and oceans, has been exploited, mistreated and contaminated. So much so that today, drinking water treatment is no longer a luxury, it is a necessity!

There is depletion of ground water due to over extraction, salt water intrusion into the aquifers, poor ground water recharge from the rains, contamination from open defecation, garbage, and industrial waste etc. treatment of waste water will not only avoid ground and surface water pollution, but also make it available for re-use.

Integrated water management is vital for poverty reduction, environmental sustenance and sustainable economic development. National Water Policy (2002) envisages that the water resources of the country should be developed and managed in an integrated manner. Clean water is an investment in the future of our country.

Dr. Anand said the first task would be to define the Region based on natural resources like water, topography etc. He chalked out a strategy on how to set up the necessary task forces consisting the CTP’s of both Pondicherry and Tamilnadu and officials from both the governments together with resource persons from Auroville, who have already done a lot of work on specific issues, Intach and Pondy CAN and other experts in the field.

A Component plan will have to be worked out on all these following issues:

1) Regional Planning,
2) Water
3) Energy
4) Transportation
5) Health, Education and Livelihoods (income generation for the urban and rural poor)
6) Heritage, Conservation, Arts and Culture, Tourism
7) Demography and Economics and
8) Environmental management and sustainability.

This meeting was the first step for building a regional collaboration for a sustainable development of this region

It was attended by:

Mr. Negi
Dir. MBO, OSD, JNnurm, HUPA, Delhi,

Mr Durairaj
Chief Town Planner, T&CPD,

Mr Chandrapal Singh
Chief Engineer PWD, Pondicherry

and other officials from PWD, T&CPD, PPA, HUDCO, several NGOs and members of Auroville.